A host of AMU students, graduates and teachers win Czech Lion Awards

The results of the 28th edition of the Czech Lion Awards were announced on Saturday, 6 March 2021. Winning six statues, Krajina ve stínu/Shadow Country made by Bohdan Sláma, a teacher of FAMU’s Department of Directing, ruled the evening. The Best Feature Film of last year is Šarlatán directed by Czech-Polish director, screenwriter and a FAMU alumna, Agniezska Holland.

Shadow Country scored points in the following categories, among others: Best Actress in a Leading Role, Best Editing, Best Screenplay and Best Music, with actors Magdaléna Borová (DAMU graduate) and Jan Daňhel (graduate and teacher of FAMU’s Department of Editing), screenwriter Ivan Arsenjev (FAMU graduate) and music composer Jakub Kudláč (FAMU graduate and teacher) winning the awards.

In addition to winning the Best Film Award, Šarlatán also won the Best Actor in a Leading Role for Ivan Trojan (DAMU graduate). The Best Cinematography Award went to Martin Štrba (FAMU graduate).

The Best Documentary for 2020 is V síti/Caught in the Net made by documentary film maker Barbora Chalupová (FAMU student) and director and FAMU teacher Vít Klusák. V síti also won the Film Fans’ Award.

The Best Television Film or Miniseries is Herec/Actor, co-authored (among others) by screenwriter, dramaturge, producer and documentary film director Petr Bok (a FAMU graduate).

The set for the Marie Terezie II co-production miniseries, designed by the late Martin Kurel (DAMU graduate), won the Best Stage Design category.

The Best Television Drama Series award went to Zrádci/Rats with screenplay written by Miro Šifra, a graduate of FAMU's Department of Scriptwriting and Dramaturgy and current external teacher of the same Department.

FAMU student Adam Martinec along with producer and FAMU student Matěj Paclík won the Best Short Film category. Their Anatomie českého odpoledne/Anatomy of a Czech Afternoon also won the Magnesia Award for the Best Student Film.

The Czech Film and TV Academy also bestowed its traditional award for a unique contribution to Czech cinema; this year, director Hynek Bočan won the prize. While still a FAMU student, he met film directors Karel Kachyňa, Jiří Weiss and Jindřich Polák and went on to collaborate with them at the Barrandov film studios. Over the course of his career, making films and TV programmes, he made dozens of films and shows, the best-known of which include without a doubt Čest a sláva/Honour and Glory (1968), Záhada hlavolamu (1969), S čerty nejsou žerty/Give the Devil His Due (1984), Bakaláři (1986), Přítelkyně z domu smutku (1992), Zdivočelá země (1997) and Láska rohatá (2009).

Congratulations to all the winners!